For most of the Street Fighter series' history, you've had to pay for significant new content. Want to get those sweet new characters? Buy the Super Ultra EX Plus Alpha Turbo Championship edition. You won't have to go through that rigamarole with Street Fighter V, though. Capcom is promising that any post-launch SFV material will be earnable for free, in-game -- accrue enough "Fight Money" and that brawler will be yours. You can still use real cash if you want more content without putting in additional play time, but you're no longer forced to splurge.

Want to up the ante on your costume for the next big comic convention? Capcom will soon have you covered. The game developer has teased plans for an official, wearable Mega Man helmet that lights up. It won't grant you cybernetic powers, but it definitely looks the part -- combine it with Think Geek's Buster Gun and you'll look like you're ready to take on Dr. Wily. While Capcom hasn't even mentioned a pre-order date, let alone a release date, it could be worth holding out if you're determined to trump other would-be Blue Bombers.

Street Fighter's Ryu is almost certainly coming to Super Smash Bros. (SSB). Multiple files featuring the character have been extracted from a recent update, adding weight to a rumor that began back in April. The evidence is pretty compelling: there's a video (below) that seems to be Ryu's victory sequence, an image depicting what appears to be a recreation of his stage from Street Fighter 2 and a selection of color options for the character.

Classic movies frequently get reissues and remastered versions with behind-the-scenes content, but games seldom receive that kind of affection. More often than not, you get a barebones port, a technical upgrade (which sometimes breaks the experience) or a full-on remake. Reborn studio Digital Eclipse thinks the industry can do a better job of preserving these classics. It's launching ports that are more about honoring the history behind a game than upgrading it, much like the Criterion Collection does for movies. Its inaugural title, Mega Man Legacy Collection, will include both the first six Mega Man games as well as artwork and other bonus material from the series' early days. About the only major change to the games themselves will be a Challenge Mode that "remixes" gameplay to add some extra spice.

Resident Evil 4 is one of the most beloved entries in the survival horror franchise, and the last game before the series moved towards a more bombastic, action-focused style. There are many reasons to love this Leon Kennedy adventure, but one that often goes unrecognised is its dynamic approach to difficulty. As Pocket Gamer's Mark Brown explains, Resident Evil 4 would subtly tweak your experience depending on how well you were playing. Enemies would deliver greater damage, for instance, and appear more aggressive if you were easily charging through each area, and some players have suggested that ammo drops would automatically decrease for your preferred weapons. All of this culminated in a game that naturally balanced challenge and progression -- you never felt completely safe or in control, but neither did you feel that tricky sections were impossible. As Brown notes, to Capcom's credit they've never confirmed the feature's existence -- all we have are anecdotes and corroborating gameplay footage from the fans.

The launch of Ultra Street Fighter IV on the PlayStation 4 hasn't exactly gone as planned, with gamers complaining of input lag, shoddy netcode, glitches, a start screen that refers to a button on the controller that doesn't exist and other issues. Tonight Sony announced that a patch is "expected to land next week," but did not provide any other details on exactly what it's addressing. While some reported the issues waned after the game was fully installed, others still report problems. The PS4 was slotted as the system of choice for the Evo 2015 event in July, but event co-founder Joey Cuellar tweeted that it is "evaluating" what system to use.

Turns out the PS4 port of Street Fighter IV isn't all that Ultra. Sony secured a next-gen exclusive for the fighting game and its sequel, but its release has been marred by complaints. The internet is awash with reports of severe slowdown in menus, moves not working as they're supposed to, sound glitches and bizarre visual bugs. Although we haven't noticed some of the more egregious issues, the game does appear to have some input lag, which is a massive problem for a title that is all about timing. The entire thing feels like you're playing online with a weak connection right now.

Do something enough and it becomes second nature: muscle memory and instinct kicks in. But does that hold for the high-twitch dynamics of pro gaming-level Street Fighter 4? Japanese gaming site 4Gamer rigged up a gaming PC with SteelSeries' Sentry Gaming Eye Tracker, watching the gaze of Street Fighter pro-gamer Sako as he indulged in a few rounds. Rather than focus on his own player, or the opponent, his view typically rests somewhere between the two; the pro-gamer likely trying to gauge incoming attacks and connect distance for their own. As the Japanese site notes, it wasn't exactly a high stakes bout, but the video suggests, at least, that it's not where your character is, but where it's going that's important. Which is also this editor's life philosophy, coincidentally. See where the pros are looking, right after the break.

It was roughly two months ago that I received a midnight email from our gaming editor Ben Gilbert. The subject: "Review Code -- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for 3DS." The email: "Assuming you want this?" I didn't. Sure, I'd played an older Monster Hunter on the Wii a few years back, but I gave up 15 hours in, shortly after the grueling tutorials ended. I've always felt like I should be into the series, though. I'm into RPGs; I'm into grinding. I use up the precious few vacation days I have crawling through Persona Q's dungeons or leveling up familiars. So I decided to offer up 100 hours of my free time to see if I could learn to love Monster Hunter. I tried so hard to love it.

Devil May Cry, in addition to sounding like a scrubbed Pablo Neruda poem, was an evolutionary leap from the clunky 3D action games of the '90s when it hit the PS2 back in 2001. Capcom's game delivered a heady blend of The Evil Dead and anime flash, while redefining how free-flowing action felt in a video game. Oh, and it looked cool as hell. When it was announced that 2013's DmC: Devil May Cry would both reboot the series and come from the drastically different creative culture of the UK rather than Japan, fans balked. How could it possibly live up to the legacy? Now DmC is getting another shot with a PS4 and Xbox One definitive edition which we're playing on JXE Streams.

No one refers to video games as their "stories." Games tend to have a whole lot of sequels but they're hardly suited for serialized storytelling over a long period of time. Super Mario Bros. doesn't keep a thread running General Hospital style; the medium's just not built for soap opera. With the exception of Resident Evil, of course. For nearly 20 years, Resident Evil's absurd storyline has stayed intact: an unbroken string of evil corporations, bio-terrorism and the cheesiest one-liners this side of a Marmaduke comic strip. Unfortunately, Claire Redfield, one of its best heroines, has been out of the spotlight for 15 years. Now she's back and JXE Streams is looking back on her stories.

Thanks to a prematurely posted trailer, we now know that Capcom's Street Fighter V is heading to PlayStation 4 and PC exclusively. The video (which has been pulled) is more of the teaser sort, so it doesn't delve into whether is this is a timed exclusive or a permanent one, and it fails to mention a projected release date. Bummer. The current effort, Ultra Street Fighter IV, continued the tournament with a handful of new characters when it debuted back in August for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, so this is certainly something for fans of the franchise to look forward to. While details are scarce at the moment, we'll likely hear more about Street Fighter V during this weekend's PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas.

The bar has been raised for fish-controlled video games. Not content with the solo action of Fish Plays Pokemon, Andrew Hill has launched FishPlayStreetFighter, a Twitch stream that lets you watch two fish (Aquarius and Robert the Bruce) square off in Capcom's classic Street Fighter II. It's mapping movement around the tank like before, but it's using a significantly more advanced control scheme to liven things up. Color detection makes the two-player mode possible, and the fish can string together input combos based on where they're swimming -- watch for long enough and you'll see a goldfish throw its opponent across the room. The best part is that the matches actually move along pretty quickly. While you'll sometimes see the fighters wasting time, one fish usually gets a knockout before time is up. The feed doesn't run at all hours (usually between 7:30AM and 10PM Eastern), but it should easily keep you distracted while you're at work.

What happens when Capcom signs on to sponsor your upcoming tour? Well, you may be in for a Street Fighter-esque app to bolster the live show. In the DvsLW app for Android and iOS, hip-hop artists Drake and Lil Wayne get help from the crowd during their co-headlining dates starting this week. Developed with a hand from the video game outfit, the mobile software lets you choose between the two stars before tapping a button to "power up," boosting performances in real-time. That's right, concert goers will select their tour date and then influence the results each night. It's worth noting that tour-specific apps (and album-specific offerings, for that matter) are nothing new, but big name acts continue to crank out mobile companions to go along with the trek.

Competitive gaming depends heavily on live streaming to build its audience these days, and it's about to get a big boost through a new partnership between Capcom and Twitch. The two are launching the Capcom Pro Tour, a year-long Street Fighter IV tournament. The worldwide competition will have players duke it out across both major events, like DreamHack and EVO, as well as smaller online and local events; Capcom will stream all the big gatherings through its own Twitch channel. The tour experience will be familiar to fans, but it could give eSports a higher profile by introducing many to both online spectating and pro-level play.

Keiji Inafune's been making games for nearly 30 years. He's the man behind one of gaming's most iconic characters (Mega Man) and several huge franchises (Dead Rising, Onimusha). After 23 years working at Capcom, one of Japan's largest game publishers, he suddenly quit back in 2010. "Settling down means death for a creator. As long as you are a creator, you cannot settle down," he announced on his blog. Just six months after being appointed Capcom's Global Head of Production (overseeing the company's entire gaming catalog, from Resident Evil to Street Fighter), he quit.

With that, he set off on his own and created two new companies: Comcept and Intercept. When we talked with Inafune last week at DICE 2014, he spoke of his plans for Comcept in detail. "I was a publisher for 20 years, so you'd be right in thinking I brought some ideas from there into Comcept," he said. That means, first and foremost, retaining ownership of IP. That's a major component of going with Kickstarter for the latest Comcept game, a Mega Man-esque action game titled Mighty No. 9.

The project sailed past its target goal of $900K and took in $3.8 million. Without a publisher, of course.

Keiji Inafune is a bit of a games-making legend. Co-designer of the original Megaman, not to mention producing both the Dead Rising series and multiple Resident Evil titles, he's going back to his roots. Inafune announced at PAX this weekend that he's working on a new 2D action shooter, Mighty No.9, that looks (and apparently plays) an awful lot like some of his prior hits. The plot is pretty familiar too: a plucky robot has to battle six rouge automatons (or eight, depending on funding), stealing unique weapons and abilities from each one. According to the man himself, there's been no reaction from Capcom -- at least not yet -- and he's looking for you to help make the game a reality. The project's live on Kickstarter, and it's aiming to raise $900,000 (in just 30 days) to develop the title.

Twenty bucks will net backers a digital copy (through Steam), while $40 will also include digital copies of the game manual, art book / strategy guide and a copy of the original soundtrack. Naturally, the game will be ported over to major consoles if backers can reach a set of defined stretch goals. Crank up your donation to $60 and you'll get it all on old-school physical media, alongside a playable golden version of the game's protagonist -- and we all know everything's better in gold.

Want to know just who's developing for the PlayStation 4? Sony just gave us a very good peek: it's promising worldwide support for the console, and quickly flashed just which companies that entails. The cursory look shows us many familiar heavyweights, such as 2K, Activision, Capcom, EA, Konami and Ubisoft. We've also spotted Rockstar, Square Enix and other names that most would have hoped for with the new PlayStation. Suffice it to say that Sony hasn't had any problems attracting the support it needs for a decent early lineup, although we don't know how many of these developers will have something ready for launch day.

Update: A few exist that aren't (directly) mentioned in the graphic above: Blizzard is porting Diablo III to the PS4, and Bungie will put its future MMO-like shooter, Destiny, on the game machine.

Check out ourliveblogof Sony's event to get the latest news as it happens!

Fans of the Steel Battalion series will remember fondly showing off that massive, 40 button controller to their friends and, for a time, feeling like the most hardcore gamer on the planet. Those days are sadly gone, that amazing controller not compatible with the Xbox 360, but of course these days you are the controller. Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the latest, Kinect-powered entry to the series and if you look around you'll find the above, your very own Engadget logo that you can plaster all over your Vertical Tank. While we've had limited time with the game, we have to echo the sentiment of our friends over at Joystiq who conclude that the controls are, well, broken to put it mildly. But hey, dig that logo!Gallery-159880

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Sat, 07 Jul 2012 10:26:00 -040021|20273233http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/14/japans-resident-evil-6-bundle-costs-1-300-nets-you-a-leather/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/14/japans-resident-evil-6-bundle-costs-1-300-nets-you-a-leather/http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/14/japans-resident-evil-6-bundle-costs-1-300-nets-you-a-leather/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23commentsEngadget has seen plenty of limited edition items looking to lighten the wallets of oil barons and hedge fund managers alike. Now Capcom's readying its bundle for Resident Evil 6's Japan launch and it includes protagonist Leon's leather jacket -- available in sizes S, M, L and XL. A complete set of as-yet unrevealed "tablet cases", supposedly emblazoned with character designs will also arrive in the set, as those wealthy enough to afford the 104,000 yen ($1,300) set presumably have at least four devices to garnish with Resident Evil livery. Japanese one-percenters can hit up the preorder site -- with their choice of jacket size -- at the source below.

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:25:00 -040021|20214925http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/mazdas-i-eloop-does-regenerative-braking-with-capacitors-instea/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/mazdas-i-eloop-does-regenerative-braking-with-capacitors-instea/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/mazdas-i-eloop-does-regenerative-braking-with-capacitors-instea/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23commentsMazda has decided there's simply no reason why hybrid cars and EVs should have all of the regenerative braking fun. Its new system, called i-ELOOP, is aimed at traditional internal combustion vehicles. But, rather than rely on batteries, the company turned to capacitors which can be charged and discharged in just seconds. The electricity generated is then fed to the car's various electronic components after being passed through a converter to step down the voltage to 12v. By alleviating some of the burden to generate power from the engine Mazda claims it can increase fuel efficiency by up to ten percent. You won't have to wait long to see this tech make it into your next ride either, the world's first capacitor-based regenerative braking system should be making its retail debut sometime in 2012. Check out the PR after the break.

Last month, Nintendo quietly unveiled the SlidePad -- a battery-powered "extended slide pad" for the 3DS, slated to hit the Japanese market on December 10th. At the time, there was no indication that the add-on would be coming to North America anytime soon, but according to Capcom, it's on its way. Speaking at New York Comic Con last week, Capcom's Ryan McDougall confirmed that the attachment will indeed arrive Stateside by February 7th, alongside the company's new 3DS game, "Resident Evil: Revelations." It's not clear whether the add-on will arrive for other games released before February, but it may very well have a different name by the time it does. According to Siliconera, Nintendo has already filed a Japanese trademark for the name Circle Pad Pro, which could be the moniker we'll be seeing in the West. Nintendo, it should be noted, has yet to confirm any of this, nor has it mentioned anything about US pricing, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

As Nintendo is wont to do, a new assortment of colorful3DS handhelds will soon be flooding the market -- in Japan. Yes, it's time once again for that tried-and-true approach of treating gamers in the company's homeland to special edition packs. This time out, it's the release of Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G that'll ring in the above pictured red-on-white portable, in addition to Ninty's recently unveiled slide pad add-on. Unfortunately, interested parties'll have to choose between the 20,800 yen (about $271) game plus console bundle, or merely opt for the hardware-less 6,990 yen (about $91) peripheral and software option -- both available on December 10th. If neither of the above has your inner Big N fanboy aflutter, you can always drop 15,000 yen (about $195) on that bland Ice White version slated for October 20th. Speak Japanese? Then hit up the source links below to parse through the official pressers.

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Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:23:00 -040021|20075747http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/nintendo-3ds-extended-slide-pad-add-on-first-hands-on/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/nintendo-3ds-extended-slide-pad-add-on-first-hands-on/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/nintendo-3ds-extended-slide-pad-add-on-first-hands-on/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23comments
Nintendo may be AWOL on the TGS show floor (as usual), but that's not stopping Capcom from strutting the big-N's hardware in its stead -- we dropped by its booth for a gameplay-free handling of the 3DS extended slide pad add-on. The control-extending cradle is every bit as bulky as it looks, killing any hope we had of cramming the rig into our pocket. The trade-off? It's much more comfortable to hold than the naked 3DS, giving our meaty hands a smooth, contoured surface to grip. The new right-hand circle pad feels just as solid as the handheld's dedicated pad, and didn't significantly obstruct our access to the 3DS' face buttons. All in all, the cradle is a comfortable, if awkwardly large extension to the 3DS that doesn't seem to compromise the handheld's existing input. Hit up the gallery below to size up the plump peripheral for yourself.
Gallery-133843

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Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:41:00 -040021|20043334http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/sony-playstation-vita-debuts-in-japan-on-december-17th-partneri/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/sony-playstation-vita-debuts-in-japan-on-december-17th-partneri/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/14/sony-playstation-vita-debuts-in-japan-on-december-17th-partneri/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23commentsSony's just announced in Tokyo that the PlayStation Vita will debut in Japan on December 17th, and it'll partner with NTT DoCoMo for the console's prepaid 3G service. Customers will have two choices of connection here: 980 yen ($13) for 20 hours, and 4,980 yen ($65) for 100 hours -- see press release after the break. Alas, the rest of the world will still have to wait until 2012, but you'll know more concrete dates as soon as we do. For now, head over to our sister site Joystiq for the SCEJ press conference liveblog.

Update: Capcom's Yoshinori Ono came on stage to mention that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would launch simultaneously with the console. Square Enix also announced that the PS2's Final Fantasy X will be remastered for the PS Vita, and it'll be in PS3-like quality; sadly, there was no date nor demonstration.

Update 2: The first 500 units sold will come with 100 hours of prepaid 3G connectivity. Want in? Pre-orders open on October 15th.